Are frustrated that you are not seeing results from your inbound marketing strategies? There are a lot of components required to ensure success and it can be difficult to pinpoint what is going wrong. The more you know the better you can achieve your goals. Check out the article below to learn the inbound marketing strategies you need to know to avoid hindering your efforts. 

Inbound Marketing Takes More Than A One-Time Approach

Believe it or not, it's common for businesses to mistakenly not utilize the full potential of inbound marketing methods because they use such as a single strategy. Inbound marketing is beyond just a one-time promotion, campaign, or idea. Inbound, like other marketing techniques, requires time and attention to build trusting relationships with prospects, which over time develop into leads and then into customers. The online world is ever-growing and with that, your inbound marketing strategies should be analyzing new trends to incorporate into the various elements required for success including search engine optimization (SEO), blog posts and social media. To continue generating leads, you need to be constantly updating strategies, analyzing data and researching ways to grow and improve. 

Writing Effective Content Is Vital For Success 

You may have heard the saying "content is king" and these are most certainly words to live by. This saying may be ringing in you ears but even so, people usually know they need to write content but truly don't know how to do so successfully. Creating content such as blog posts have proven to be effective and statistically, companies that blog generate 67% more leads per month than those that don’t (Source). So how do you effectively produce content? The first thing to remember is to write for the reader. The content shouldn't be you gloating about your products and services but rather information to educate people on specific topics. When people can find the information they are looking for from you, they'll view you as a reliable source. Make sure your content answers common questions and is easily understandable by your targeted audience. Readability is another blogging element that is commonly overlooked or misunderstood. The content you provide should not only aim to inform but should also be easy to understand by all levels of the buying process. People already know you are an expert in your field but that doesn't mean they'll understand your business like you do. Even when targeting people with more knowledge of your services, it's important not to get wrapped up with specific terminology that will limit you to only a small few who can understand. Provide the proper information they need but do so in a conversational tone that mass audiences can understand. Lastly, get the word out there by promoting your content via your website as well social media and other means of online communication. The best way to ensure your content is seen is to add valuable keywords throughout the blog article. Effective SEO strategies will strengthen the chances of people reading your content with the advancement of your information on search engine rankings. 

Results Will Not Happen Over Night 

"Good things come to those who wait" is just another saying that pertains to this subject matter. Sick of common sayings yet? They may seem cliché but they hold true for many situations including that of inbound marketing strategies. Expecting to become a vast and successful business in a matter of day, weeks or even in a month is unrealistic. It takes a lot of time and effort to get the word out there and build a client base that eventually leads to loyal customers. Typically, inbound marketing can take 6-12 months before showing you measurable results. You need to understand that building a trusting targeted audience, creating engaging content, optimizing your website for SEO and gathering enough data to improve your conversion rates is a must and will take a while to do so correctly. Perhaps more importantly, though, it is important to recognize that taking part of a discussion with your customers is an organic process that takes time as you establish rapport. The results will come – but a little patience, combined with realistic expectations, will keep you from feeling frustrated during those initial months. 

Online Paid Ads Are Becoming A Thing Of The Past

You see them every time you use Google; links at the top of the page that say "ad" right next to them. How many times do you actually click those when searching for information? The truth is, that paid ads are becoming a thing of the past and even though they work for some, it's a method that doesn't work for most. According to Search Engine Land,  up to 80% of people ignore Google-sponsored ads. This is not surprising, and with Google making changes to their ranking algorithms and presenting more educational content like blog posts and videos instead of simple website urls, expect this number to continue to climb in the future (Source). The  problem with paid ads is that you have to invest a lot in the hopes that people will click that specific add but also still need to invest in other inbound marketing techniques as well. The other option is to skip paid ads altogether and to invest your time in organic search with effective SEO methods and content creation, which seems to be the more efficient trend. 

Visual Learning Is A Sought After Component

So what else can you do to improve your inbound marketing strategies? Images and videos are proven to attract more people and according to Jeff Bulas, articles with images get 94% more views over those without an image. Most people are visual learners. In fact, up to 60% of the population consists of visual learners, meaning they prefer watching over reading. Images appeal to visual learners; therefore, it’s important to feature images on your blog posts and articles if you want to garner more visitors (Source). The same can be said for videos on your website that offer tutorials of specific products or services that can be difficult to demonstrate with writing. Popular trends come and go but it's important to utilize them while they are still useful. Click here for popular SEO trends for 2016 that you should follow.  

Inbound marketing requires a lot of elements that need to work together to ensure success. If you are having issues but don't know how to fix it, you may want to look into working with an inbound marketing agency to improve your efforts. Check out the video below to prepare yourself and understand what it's like to work with a professional CT inbound marketing agency.